Misano, Italy

2025 Provisional MotoGP Calendar: 22 Races, Kazakhstan, India Out, Hungary, Brno In

By David Emmett |

The 2025 MotoGP calendar has been published at last, at least in its provisional form. The calendar contains 22 rounds, starting on March 2nd at Buriram in Thailand, and ending as usual at Valencia on November 16th.

The calendar looks a little different this year, in several different ways. Firstly, Qatar is now the fourth round, being held in mid April, rather than the first round. Argentina and Austin follow the season opener in Thailand, with MotoGP heading back to Europe after Qatar.

Jerez and Le Mans are in their traditional places, at the end of April and the middle of May respectively, before MotoGP heads to Silverstone, and a much earlier date for the British GP at the end of May. From the UK, the series heads back to Spain, to Aragon, again a much earlier race at the beginning of June. From Aragon, the series heads to Mugello in the middle of June, in a race that is back-to-back with Assen.

Emilia-Romagna MotoGP Sunday Round Up: Momentum, Shmomentum, Fair Passes, And The Enigma Of Michelin's New Rear

By David Emmett |

For the third race in a row, the Sunday MotoGP grand prix race has had us saying, "this is the moment the championship changed". Pecco Bagnaia left Austria with a lead of 5 points over Jorge Martin. Then he crashed out at Aragon after a collision with Alex Márquez, and Jorge Martin finished second behind Marc Márquez, giving Martin a comfortable-looking 23 point lead.

Was that the moment the momentum in the championship changed? Well, for seven days perhaps, as Jorge Martin entered the pits when rain was falling at the first Misano race, only to exit pit lane onto a dry track with wet tires. Bagnaia came second to (you guessed it) Marc Márquez, and cut the points gap to just 7 points.

Had the momentum changed for good this time, perhaps? You might think that, right until the moment that Bagnaia folded the front at Turn 8 on lap 21. Jorge Martin finished second to Enea Bastianini this time, controversially, and leads by 24 points again.

Momentum swings

Emilia-Romagna MotoGP Saturday Round Up: Bagnaia vs Martin Redux, Rocket Starts, And Track vs Grip

By David Emmett |

The problem with having two races at the same track within a couple of weeks of each other is that by the time the riders line up for the start of the second race, the bikes are so dialed in that it is hard to make much of a difference. Each team and rider has reached the level they are at, and the result shows it. Second races tend to be a bit of a bore.

Doubly so at a track like Misano. "This track, it's particularly difficult to overtake, sincerely," Luca Marini told us after spending the second half of the race stuck behind Jack Miller. And so the result of Saturday's sprint race was a very close reflection of the qualifying results.

If you check the lap chart PDF on the MotoGP.com website, you can see that of the top ten, six riders finished the race in the position they crossed the line at the end of the first lap. And of the four that didn't, Pedro Acosta got past Brad Binder for fifth on lap 2, and Pecco Bagnaia passed Jorge Martin for the lead on lap 7.

Close, but no cigar

It would be harsh to call the sprint race at Misano 2 tedious. It had tension, but for the most part, that tension went unfulfilled. It felt like something might happen throughout the race. But in the end, very little did.

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